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Chronology

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Without warning or provocation, a Xindiweapon appears above Earth and unleashes a blast that kills millions across twocontinents. It is only the first such weapon: a second is being built, and this time it might very well destroy the entire planet. Desperately trying to save the Earth and her people, Starfleet must, in a heartbeat, change its mission from one of peaceful scientific exploration to one of military service.

Starfleet and the MACOs are two different services now sharing a common goal, but they are divided as to how to reach it. It is a culture clash that echoes across the centuries of military service. The men and women now aboard Enterprise know they must succeed in working together or the price will be paid in the blood of innocents. Failure is not an option.

Enterprise receives a lead that a spaceport on the planet Kaletoo has been known to do business with the Xindi. However, en route there, an encounter with an anomaly leaves several crew incapacitated, including Tucker and Sato. With his crew somewhat reduced, Archer takes an away team down to the surface.

The Enterprise crewmembers are pointed in the direction of La'an Trahve, a courier who sometimes works for the Xindi. Taking him prisoner aboard his ship, the group learns he has been transporting kemocite and after receiving a beating Trahve admits that he knows where the weapon is being constructed. He is ordered to transport a team including Archer, Reed and Hayes to the site.

Meanwhile, Enterprise detects a kemocite trail and since they are maintaining com silence T'Pol sends Mayweather and a detachment of MACOs led by Corporal Chang to follow it. They discover a Xindi refueling station which Chang insists on trying to destroy. While setting the charges, they activate a security system which interferes with the detonation signal. Thanks to an act of self-sacrifice by MACO Private Colin Eby, staying behind to send the signal at short range, the charges destroy not only the depot but also a Xindi warship that was about to destroy their shuttlepod.

Archer's team realizes just too late that Trahve is leading them into a trap - they have actually arrived at a partially-decommissioned old weapons facility, which locks a tractor beam on them. Archer sets Trahve's ship to self-destruct and O'Neill, who has followed them in the shuttlepod, attempts to evacuate the ship. However, the airlocks aren't compatible and the crew can only travel between the ships by means of an arduous space walk without protective suits. Trahve refuses to take the risk, heading to an escape pod instead. The empty ship explodes, destroying the weapons facility.

Later, Archer holds a funeral service for the Starfleet and MACO personnel lost during the two missions, with both groups beginning to recognize their common ground.

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